ABOUT FINDING YOURSELF IN A DARK PLACE... "DRIVE"

I fully intend to get more “up to date” on my reviews by the way. Just putting it out there. I was chatting to a colleague at work the other day and I was glad to hear that I am in fact not the only person who makes about ten New Year’s resolutions. I mean, you know, it’s good to have spares. I have like 5 or 6 this year. Tidying up the blog is one of them. Making my reviews more up to date comes under that heading. I mean, I will keep these randoms. Because this blog has always been about me going “Oh my God you guys, you’ll never guess what I discovered!” But yeah. Let’s  not lag too far behind either. I know this isn’t the clearest possible description of what changes I have in mind for the blog but don’t worry, it will become clearer. In the meanwhile let us concentrate on a more important question. How the heck did I take nigh on 3 years to watch Drive? It’s only, oh I don’t know, one of my top 5 favourite movies.

The driver (Ryan Gosling) is a man of few words. When you talk to him, you get the feeling life has made him this way. And to be absolutely frank, the life he leads doesn’t leave him much time to be touchy – feely. By day, he is a stunt driver on Hollywood movies. By night, he is one of the best get-away drivers that can be had for the right amount of cash. Meet his terms and he is yours, no matter what. And more often than not, he will get you out of no matter what. In short, as far as driving is concerned, he has a God given talent and he is using it every single way he knows how. And he has a rather solitary if fast-paced existence until his next-door neighbour Irene (Carey Mulligan) and her little son come into his life. This in itself is not a bad thing; it’s not a bad thing at all. It’s when his relationship with his neighbours enters a head-on collision course with his dark night-time dealings that the driver reaches a very dangerous point. He will need all his courage and talent to salvage even some of the things he loves. If he makes it out alive that is.

Ok, several things. First of all, be warned this film is full of dark places. I mean, you know me. I’m all about dark places and ultra-realism and all those things that make a film… Well not a fluffy romantic comedy. You know what I mean. No. The world of the driver is hard and dark. You may, at the beginning, be tempted to judge our hero as “bad” but it soon becomes very obvious that he is just keeping his feelings under lock and key. Why? We can only imagine. Because even in the credits Ryan Gosling is listed as “Driver” –we never even learn the hero’s name. And then, a ray of sunlight enters his world. A true, bright, warm ray of sunlight he cannot help but turn to. Unfortunately though, as is often the case with these things, clouds quickly scurry on to cover the sun and the driver is left bewildered and more vulnerable than before. Because those feelings he had under lock and key were there for a reason and now innocent lives are at stake.

Ryan Gosling is absolutely marvellous as the driver. One thing I loved about the whole film is that he is completely silent for a very large part of it. It is almost the character’s trademark. This, among other things, makes it very easy for us to project ourselves onto him. Well think about it; since you’ll be using your own experiences and imagination to figure out what’s going through his head, you will create a character sympathetic to yourself. Thus, anyone who has anything marginally similar to the Driver is going to end up adoring him. You might have been down on your luck relationship-wise and feeling lonely. You might be in a job you’re not particularly happy in and desperately want to get out. You might have been unlucky enough to have been backstabbed or may, for whatever reason, feel you need to keep your emotions hidden. You will like this guy. You will find something of yourself in him. The genius of the film is the fact that it makes it so easy for you to put it there J . Oh don’t get me wrong. I love the driver too. I’m just pointing out to you I reckon this comes about.

And then of course there is the supreme contrast of this state with his changed state when Irene enters his life. Pay attention and you will see all the little details like the changes in the lighting, the softer colours… But more importantly, the Driver speaks. He smiles. And the couple work so well together, the acting is just so brilliant your heart swells. I mean, at this point a word or two needs to be said about Carey Mulligan. She is one of the brightest stars of our time and yet I love the fact that she pulls of being completely, believably normal.  Yes, even an old cynic like me was rooting for a happy ending on this one. Did I get what I wanted? Well… Like a lot of things in life – and in this film – nothing is black or white. You will have to watch the film and figure the answer out for yourselves.

What I love about this film is that it is so close to real life and I saw – as I am confident a lot of you will – so many emotions I have felt and psychological places I have found myself in. I know that some people advocate a completely different you know, restful world where all the problems are nicely tidied up and any rough edges on characters are nicely filed down by the end. Thing is, that doesn’t tap into my real emotions. Life simply does not work out like that. I find it is rare that a film grips me at the heart strings like this and has me pausing the film now and again, simply because I just feel so tense I just can’t take any more adrenaline. It will not come on you all at once, oh but it definitely will grow on you… Now go watch the darn thing…

DARKNESS YOU NEVER KNEW HE HAD... "ALL GOOD THINGS"

Oooh I love a good crime story. Especially a true story. As you know, the ghoulish side of me relishes in a good true crime story. Now don’t tut or roll your eyes (that means you Mom) –it’s just a side of me that hasn’t quite grown up. You know, when we were kids we loved to sit in the dark, around a campfire if you grew up in that kind of environment or in a fort made of duvets with torches and tell each other scary stories. It grew up a bit that’s all. But its basic tastes didn’t change. Oh come on. You remember how we all swore those “legends” we told each other “really happened” and the thrill that went down our spines when we thought about it. Now, in the 21^st century the world is “disenchanted” as it were, there is no more magic or mystery. Except, perhaps, that of the human mind and human nature. Which is why, I think, those of us who never wanted to stop believing in monsters and magic have sort of transferred our interests to true crime. A world where the monsters really and truly      are real…

Ryan Gosling and Kirsten Dunst star in the tale of David Marks and his wife Katie. They tell the story of a murder (well, at least one murder, shall we say) and a disappearance. To this day, the film informs us, the case remains open, but there are strong suspicions as to what happened… This is the story of those suspicions…

When they first got married, David and Katie Marks really looked like archetypal star-crossed lovers. He was a senator’s son looking for his place in life, she was a small town girl. They met by sheer coincidence, love blossomed young and strong. Her family was  surprised by their new son in law that hailed from almost a different dimension from them – but not unfriendly. David’s father however, was very quick to point out that “Katie would never be one of them”.  This tension is, as you can imagine, the ignition point for a crisis. A crisis that had been, it might be argued, brewing in the soul of David Marks for a long while… The marriage starts off happily enough, but very soon the veneer begins to crack. The fact that David returns to the family business  - a business that is decidedly on the shadier side of the law – is definitely part of the problem. But it has to be admitted that (thankfully) not all of us react to stress at work the way David did… Under stress, David begins to show his “true colours”… The colours are surprisingly dark…

This film does a very spookily successful job of telling the story of what seems to be a true psychopath – or a man with serious psychopathic tendencies at any rate. I was especially struck by the way the progression of the situation is shown. At the  beginning of the film David seems determined to run away from “it all” – although, it needs to be said, we do not quite understand what “it all” is until much later. One can even imagine – although this is as much my speculation as anything else – David trying  to live a simple life open a store away from the city, marry a small town girl and be a simple man. But who knows, even without the obvious trigger of his “work life” with his family , his deadly tendencies may have crept to the surface…

And I can’t help but feel deeply for poor Kate. Imagine starting off on what seems to be a fairy tale life only to find out that your “other half” is a psychopath… Mind you, violence within marriages that get “kept” from the outside world are by no means few or far between of course. But that is possibly a topic deserving of its own post, not something to be tagged onto the end of a film review.

All good things is a “build the tension slowly and creepily” type of work of film. Not too  gory so ideal for the weak of stomach. Definitely not for the weak of heart though…  

GO FACE YOURSELF IN "THE PLACE BEYOND THE PINES"

I was really excited to see this one. The hype about it contributed, as did the presence of Ryan Gosling. Ok, ok, having Bradley Cooper around didn’t hurt either… Social media outlets are full of the film these days, especially since its recent release on DVD so I knew it was going to be good. I also knew a major plot twist. Yes, one wrong search and bam. The internet is full of spoilers. Don’t worry though – this review isn’t. It really isn’t. But anyway, I was slightly worried that knowing afore-mentioned plot twist was going to kind of ruin the film for me. In fact, finding this plot twist in certain circles is so easy you may well know what I’m talking about. Let me assure you whole-heartedly that that little kernel of information, while key, is not so much the end but the beginning. So even if you do stumble across it by mistake, all you lose is a tiny bit of shock value. The rest of the film is so chock-full of awesomeness that it more than compensates for that… Seriously.  

Luke (Ryan Gosling) is a motorcycle rider at a fair. Doing shows on his bike is just about all he’s good at – well that, and getting into trouble. But boy is he good with his bikes. He lives a pretty carefree life with no major attachments of any kind, traveling with the show from town to town. It is on these travels that he runs into Romina (Eva Mendes), an old flame of his; one of those girls that was just a little more special than the rest… Romina is not only special, but she drops a bombshell on him. She has a son. It’s his. Jason is not a little scared by this news, but he reacts in a way that you might not expect him to – Romina definitely doesn’t expect it at any rate. He stays. He is determined to be a part of his son’s life and provide for him. This is touching but not a little awkward as Romina has a steady partner, Kofi, who is already the surrogate father figure for baby Jason. Well, that and the fact that Luke has turned up out of the blue after almost a 2 year absence. There is another flaw in Luke’s plan. How is a man who has only ever done shows on a bike for a living going to provide for a family? Luke decides to do the one thing we all joke about but mercifully few of us do : he decides to rob a bank. This decisions entwines his fate with that of Avery (Bradley Cooper), a young lawyer turned policeman working the beat in the same town. The conflict will have a knock on effect on their lives, and the lives of every single person around them in ways neither of them could have possibly imagined…

Now, this is a very tough film to review without giving away spoilers. But I’ll tell you this much, the way ideas and conflicts are handed down through the generations, the way conscience comes into play all reminded me of one of those beautiful old 19^th century stories . It seems to be just poor folk out in the sticks, but we actually ask ourselves truly philosophical questions. What is good? What is bad? And most importantly, how much confidence should we have in the surface level labels people have? When a bank robber and a police officer are “duking it out”, we assume the police officer is “the good guy”, this film asks us “Really? Every single time?” Another thing we realise is that more often than not, the things that truly matter are handed down through the generations, though families. It is sort of comforting to think of a thread  linking us to people in our family past who we have never actually met, linked to us through a talent, an attitude, a like or dislike… It almost makes up for never having met those folks… Almost…

Lastly I just want to mention that the film is beautifully shot, in addition to that the choice of location , wherever it may be, is superb. I loved the beautiful longshots of Luke riding through the pines mentioned in the title of the film. By the way, if you’re wondering what in the world the film has to do with the pines mentioned in the title, trust me, the place beyond the pines is a key location in the narrative. You’ll just have to watch the film and find out why though… 

“ “I SHOT MY WIFE… PROVE IT” / FRACTURE ”

OK, so this isn’t actually very err… “scientific” or “objective” but there are some actors I qualify as “lucky charms”. If they are in them, chances are I’ll watch it. And probably love it. Now, common sense dictates that even unqualified acting legends have their off-days, but I just don’t seem to see it. I’m thinking of Sir Anthony Hopkins. I love him. I don’t remember an Anthony Hopkins film I didn’t like. Especially if said film is a particularly juicy “whodunit”. Well, I call it a whodunit but that’s not really a fair assessment. Who dun it is quite obvious, the question to be asked is “howhashedunit”. Not very grammatical, but a fair question given the circumstances…
And “the circumstances” are as follows: Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) is a rich and successful businessman. He has a luxurious Hollywood home and a beautiful wife he absolutely adores, that’s about all a man could ask for from life, no? Well, in this case, no. She is cheating on him, having an affair with a police detective no less. Now, Ted is literally heartbroken. And the only punishment that fits the crime, in Ted’s opinion, is capital punishment. He executes (hoho) this plan without delay, and shoots his wife at point blank range in the face (ouch). He was the only other person in the house, they have witnesses seeing them enter the house alone and who testify no one else entered or left the house… Ted even surprises everyone by signing a confession. For ambitious assistant D.A. Willy Beachum (and for everyone else concerned – Ryan Gosling by the way) it looks like an open and shut case. All the better for Willy – he needs to tie this last case up before he goes off to work at a swanky law firm for a fat paycheck. So imagine Willy’s surprise when Ted Crawford suddenly changes his plea to “not guilty” and all the evidence (including the signed confession) starts to vanish (in the legal sense) before his very eyes… If Willy doesn’t want Mr. Crawford to get away with murder – thus forcing him to wave goodbye to the most lucrative job opportunity he’ll ever face, never mind the humiliation of it all – he has to use ALL his shark powers…
OK, so you don’t exactly win 9 Primetime Emmys without knowing how to keep your audience glued to their seats, as director Gregory Hoblit demonstrates. Of course he is the director of the Oscar nominated film Primal Fear – so it’s not entirely unexpected. The film is very VERY intelligently constructed. So much so that the “crux” of the whole thing is mind-numbingly simple in the end to the point that I almost yelled “God, I should have thought of that!” It’s not too too courtroomy either so even those of us who don’t watch this genre will be able to follow it without getting bored or losing track. Plus of course there’s a love interest for Ryan Gosling in the shape of a very cool female shark played by Rosamund Pike, but I’ll let you discover that thread in the plot as you go along… The acting is… Well, the way you would expect with that caliber of actor. Anthony Hopkins makes an absolutely marvelous villain don’t you think? A great film to get your blood pumping and keep you happily occupied of an evening…